Whereas standard business process management concentrates on automatingand improving pre-existing work activities, goal-oriented BPM takes awider, more holistic perspective. It’s a philosophy that puts businessgoals at the centre, with processes being seen as a means to an end,rather than the main focus.
A goal-oriented approach seeks to present a comprehensive, overall viewof activity, as opposed to the more fragmentary perspective oftraditional BPM. The benefit for business users is a framework thatseems more intuitive and easy-to-use, while at the same time beingcapable of handling greater complexity.
A sense of purpose
The major advantage of a goal-oriented method is that it puts processdesign more firmly in the hands of business people rather thanprogrammers. The vocabulary of business is one of assets, margins,results and inventories. Giving users the ability to see BPM in theseterms, rather than those of information technology, provides a sense ofpurpose and clarity. An accountant or marketer does not have to feel asif they are juggling their usual job with that of a part-time ITprofessional.
One example of a standard BPM process might be the assigning of customerenquiries to the relevant staff members to follow up on. A goal-orientedprocess would expand on that to specify a set number of query responseswithin a timeframe, then integrate that action into a wider framework,taking on board factors such as customer service, lead times andprofitability.
Obligations and deadlines
Service level agreements, whether between a business and a client oragreed internally, are a form of goal which can be processed andmonitored using BPM. If a task is not on course to be completed inaccordance with an SLA, then it can be flagged, and the responsibleemployees alerted. Obligations and deadlines can be specified bymanagement, and if not consistently met, then processes can be adjustedto amend this.
How goals relate
Before implementing a BPM solution, business owners and managers need toconsider not only which performance indicators are relevant to theirgoals, but how they relate to each other. For example, the average timetaken for an order to be processed could be linked to customer defectionrates. BPM provides the benefit of being able to monitor and comparethese indicators in one centralised system.
The collection of data, preferably in real time, is vital to knowingwhich goals are being met, and how effectively. A BPM system that logsand generates statistics of business events automatically not only savestime and effort but provides a far higher level of accuracy. Being ableto combine figures from multiple cases to calculate monthly statisticsis one example of this functionality in action.
SwiftCase is a powerful, cloud-based business process managementplatform featuring real-time data collection, analytic tools, SLA alerts and more.Get in touch today, for a free, no-obligation demonstration.
Ready to automate your workflows?
SwiftCase helps operations teams streamline their processes with powerful workflow automation, case management, and AI-powered communication tools.